SHABIHA NUR KHATOON
Amateur-turned-professional photographer Prathmesh Shirke believes that apart from aesthetic sensibility a shutterbug should also have qualities such as compassion and insatiable curiosity
Prathmesh Shirke hails from the serene hilly area of Ratnagiri in Chiplun. He completed his graduation from Mumbai University and moved to Pune to start his career in the IT industry. For Prathmesh photography started as a hobby but soon morphed into a passion for him. He says photography gives him the chance to explore the beauty of nature – the beauty of both living and non-living objects of the environment.
“It was in 2014 when I started focusing fulltime on photography and decided to take it up as a profession. I bought a camera and during my leisure hours I used to take pictures of my friends, family and, of course, nature’s beauty. Those were the days when I knew nothing about photos; slowly photography became a kind of addiction. Wherever I go today I carry my camera and lenses,” he says.
“Whatever recognition I have received in the field of photography would not have been possible without the support of my parents. They never opposed me or decisions. They always had faith in me and my abilities. I will never let them down and will leave no stone unturned in fulfilling their aspirations. They are very happy with my photography,” the shutterbug adds.
In all these years, Prathmesh has learnt a lot about photography as an art form and has lots of lovely memories to cherish. The photographer says his maiden visit to South Africa was the most memorable moment of his life.
“I was asked to travel to South Africa and while exploring Johannesburg I came across ReefSteamers, a group of steam enthusiasts who loved steam engines, worked on them to restore, and who knew how to operate them. The group’s main objective was to preserve and rebuild old steam locomotives. I went and clicked some pictures of the dummy steam engines and the engineers working on them. The reason why I still cherish the experience is that my pictures were selected for the homepage of the official website of the group,” says Prathmesh.
The young photographer is so crazy about clicking that whenever he goes on tour the one thing which is always in his bag is camera and the other essentials like tripod, lenses, memory card, external flasher, batteries and charger.
He says he doesn’t want to miss the chance of capturing a moment. Prathmesh confesses he has a regret. “I wish I wouldn’t have bought the DSLR as today I have learnt the technical details as to how a camera works. I wish I had bought a full-frame camera instead of crop-sensor,” he says.
The young photographer explains what his focus as a photographer is. “We generally click pictures in raw format. Once we get the clicks, we process it in Adobe Photoshop or lightroom to do some adjustments in the look and feel and to convert them into JPEG format which can be read in any device. Finally, we upload the processed pictures to share on social media,” he states.
Asked what, according to him, is the perfect click, Prathmesh replies: “I keep on clicking photos until it satisfies my eyes. I keep watching photography- and camera-related videos on YouTube and try to implement the techniques shown. I track down professional photographers and discuss the things I have learnt with them.”
The passionate photographer, who has captured snaps showcasing the splendour of nature and human life, says he prefers model shoots and portfolio photography. “I can click photos the way I want and in the end the result comes out splendid,” he says.
“When I started photography, I didn’t know much about it. I only knew how to take simple shots and capture the facial expressions through random clicks. Today, however, I have matured a lot,” Prathmesh signs off.
